People are snorting bath salts, it seems. Law enforcement officials are calling this a new public health problem.
I call it a stupidity problem.
Bath salts are great. Especially the scented ones. The idea that people are not going to be able to use bath salts anymore because some idiots decided to snort them is ridiculous.
At what point are we as a society not responsible for protecting the self-destructive idiots among us? And of course "public health" means some government agency is going to have to shoulder the costs of the "Don't Snort the Bath Salts" program. Isn't tax money better spent on schools and nutrition for children?
Note to self: Don't drink lighter fluid either.
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
1.23.2011
9.05.2010
Obama's Not A Moral Coward - He's Just a Politician
President Obama is not a moral coward, as Jacob Weisberg article in Slate is alleging. He is just a politician.
Where do we get these insane expectations for politicians, and specifically President Obama? He isn't the risen Christ. He's a politician. He isn't going to take a step where he doesn't feel he has the majority behind him.
Already President Obama is dealing with a financial crisis brought on by the idiocy and neglect of the former President Bush. Granted, I am not thrilled by how he and his advisers allowed the people who brought on the mess to not only get rescued, but to profit from the bailout as well. My guess is neither is he.
So in addition to trying to dig our economy out of it epic mess, people are expecting President Obama to take on all manner of social issues and steer our citizenry to the left before most of us are ready for it. And you thought the Tea Party crowd was mad now. Just wait until their worst fears are realized.
President Obama is a strategic guy. He isn't going to put his neck out there unless there will be some ground to be gained by it. But just like he did for health care reform, he's got a plan. You just don't know it yet.
Where do we get these insane expectations for politicians, and specifically President Obama? He isn't the risen Christ. He's a politician. He isn't going to take a step where he doesn't feel he has the majority behind him.
Already President Obama is dealing with a financial crisis brought on by the idiocy and neglect of the former President Bush. Granted, I am not thrilled by how he and his advisers allowed the people who brought on the mess to not only get rescued, but to profit from the bailout as well. My guess is neither is he.
So in addition to trying to dig our economy out of it epic mess, people are expecting President Obama to take on all manner of social issues and steer our citizenry to the left before most of us are ready for it. And you thought the Tea Party crowd was mad now. Just wait until their worst fears are realized.
President Obama is a strategic guy. He isn't going to put his neck out there unless there will be some ground to be gained by it. But just like he did for health care reform, he's got a plan. You just don't know it yet.
7.14.2010
Cooking For the Stubborn Diabetic
I started a blog because I can't control my husband. He eats horribly and considers it his God-given American right to do so. He also thinks recycling is communist, but I've given up on that one.
"The communists lost, honey. I don't think we need to worry about them anymore."
"That's OK. I am willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good."
So now you have an idea of the kind of obstacle I am up against. My efforts at keeping his health intact must be surreptitious. And tasty.
And then it occurred to me: I can't be the only person in the United States who is facing this problem. There has to be others. So I started Cooking for the Stubborn Diabetic, mostly to vent and to share little tricks to get vegetables into his gullet.
Cooking for the Stubborn Diabetic is not about optimal diets for the diabetic. It is about what you can con him into eating. And if it doesn't beat the junk food, you lose. You take whatever victories you can find.
"The communists lost, honey. I don't think we need to worry about them anymore."
"That's OK. I am willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good."
So now you have an idea of the kind of obstacle I am up against. My efforts at keeping his health intact must be surreptitious. And tasty.
And then it occurred to me: I can't be the only person in the United States who is facing this problem. There has to be others. So I started Cooking for the Stubborn Diabetic, mostly to vent and to share little tricks to get vegetables into his gullet.
Cooking for the Stubborn Diabetic is not about optimal diets for the diabetic. It is about what you can con him into eating. And if it doesn't beat the junk food, you lose. You take whatever victories you can find.
8.12.2009
Death Panels and Health Reform
I am an elder law attorney. In my practice, I have represented family members who needed to make serious decisions about the care of their loved ones regarding respirators, pain medications and artificial life support. The difficulty facing family members in theses situations is terrible to watch.
And it all could have been avoided if a living will had been in place. A living will lets your family know what your wishes are for your care when you are no longer in a position to communicate those decisions yourself.
The proposed health care plan is not suggesting that a person's continued existence is decided by a panel of government workers. It is only allowing a patient to talk to a doctor to make decisions regarding their care that they need to communicate to their families.
I understand such discussions are often difficult for people to face. That's OK. I understand that the prospect of being forced to have such a discussion is also difficult to think about. That's OK, too. But this health care plan is not forcing anyone to have that discussion, nor is it making any of those decisions for you. It is only paying for it if you do want to have a living will.
And it all could have been avoided if a living will had been in place. A living will lets your family know what your wishes are for your care when you are no longer in a position to communicate those decisions yourself.
The proposed health care plan is not suggesting that a person's continued existence is decided by a panel of government workers. It is only allowing a patient to talk to a doctor to make decisions regarding their care that they need to communicate to their families.
I understand such discussions are often difficult for people to face. That's OK. I understand that the prospect of being forced to have such a discussion is also difficult to think about. That's OK, too. But this health care plan is not forcing anyone to have that discussion, nor is it making any of those decisions for you. It is only paying for it if you do want to have a living will.
3.31.2009
National Health Insurance as Competitive Advantage
American business would be greatly benefited by a national health insurance program. Starbucks spends more money on health insurance than on coffee. And that is the ground level each American company starts from in competing with foreign companies. Because all those other nations we are competing with don't saddle their businesses with the costs of health care.
Imagine that expense is taken away from the business itself. Wouldn't that be a relief to the bottom line? And the benefits socially to know that your child won't die from complications from an ear infection or that you can get your leg set if you break it.
That kind of peace of mind is a basic human right, not a privilege.
And let's leave until later how nationalization will bring down costs and standardize treatment.
Harry And Louise, Health Care, Health Insurance, Insurance Companies, Obama, Reason Foundation, Health, health insurance, universal health care, stimulus package, Barak Obama, Barack Obama, Campaign 2008, Center For American Progress, Health, James Kvaal, James Kvaal Health Care, John Edwards 2008, John McCain, John McCain Healthcare, Mccain Health Care Plan, Millions Americans Uninsured, Minnesota, Minnesota Health Care, Obama Health Care Reform, Policy Coverage, Seiu, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, Takeaction Minnesota, Uninsured
Imagine that expense is taken away from the business itself. Wouldn't that be a relief to the bottom line? And the benefits socially to know that your child won't die from complications from an ear infection or that you can get your leg set if you break it.
That kind of peace of mind is a basic human right, not a privilege.
And let's leave until later how nationalization will bring down costs and standardize treatment.
Harry And Louise, Health Care, Health Insurance, Insurance Companies, Obama, Reason Foundation, Health, health insurance, universal health care, stimulus package, Barak Obama, Barack Obama, Campaign 2008, Center For American Progress, Health, James Kvaal, James Kvaal Health Care, John Edwards 2008, John McCain, John McCain Healthcare, Mccain Health Care Plan, Millions Americans Uninsured, Minnesota, Minnesota Health Care, Obama Health Care Reform, Policy Coverage, Seiu, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, Takeaction Minnesota, Uninsured
1.28.2009
PR Smackdown: Genetically Modified Foods Strikes Back!
The PR machine for genetically modified foods scored a big one in Slate. The case is artfully made in favor of frankenfoods: it produces less green house gases to have genetically modified cows, nitrogen is poisoning the soil if specially-tailored franken-vegetables are not created to use less nitrogen, and we have been using "hit or miss" breeding for centuries in developing the livestock we have now.
I have an idea. Let's use the methane gas produced by grass-fed cows to create electricity. Let's rotate crops to mitigate the gathering of nitrogen in soil. Let's allow nature to create animals in her own way instead of adding cucumber genes to chickens to get them to be more convenient to us.
What's interesting about the article, linked to the title of this post, is that it represents the PR efforts of Big Agribusiness to persuade the public that their weird combination of genes is just fine - and to stem the support of environmentalists for natural foods by dragging climate change into the debate. They are trying to sow divisions in the Green movement.
Reporters are lazy. If you hand them a press release with research that they can just reword, often they will use it. I'm not saying that's what happened here, I'm just saying that someone paid a lot of money to try to get this message into the mainstream media.
Antibiotics, Bacon, Biotech Agriculture, Center For Food Safety, Dna, Eating Matters, Fda, Food Matters, Genetically Modified Food, GM Foods, Green Living, Health, Hormone Treated Meat, Los Angeles Times, Nutrition, Salmon, Vegan, Vegetarian, Green News, Frankenfood, public relations, food, natural, organic, health, healthy
I have an idea. Let's use the methane gas produced by grass-fed cows to create electricity. Let's rotate crops to mitigate the gathering of nitrogen in soil. Let's allow nature to create animals in her own way instead of adding cucumber genes to chickens to get them to be more convenient to us.
What's interesting about the article, linked to the title of this post, is that it represents the PR efforts of Big Agribusiness to persuade the public that their weird combination of genes is just fine - and to stem the support of environmentalists for natural foods by dragging climate change into the debate. They are trying to sow divisions in the Green movement.
Reporters are lazy. If you hand them a press release with research that they can just reword, often they will use it. I'm not saying that's what happened here, I'm just saying that someone paid a lot of money to try to get this message into the mainstream media.
Antibiotics, Bacon, Biotech Agriculture, Center For Food Safety, Dna, Eating Matters, Fda, Food Matters, Genetically Modified Food, GM Foods, Green Living, Health, Hormone Treated Meat, Los Angeles Times, Nutrition, Salmon, Vegan, Vegetarian, Green News, Frankenfood, public relations, food, natural, organic, health, healthy
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